An Irregular Trainer
by Kerim
Summary: After tasting defeat for the first time, Red feels that he must grow Stronger. By chance he comes across a door deep within Mt. Silver. Forcing it open, he enters the Tower.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: This is a crossover with the Pokemon Universe and Tower of God. Don't worry, the story will be following Pokemon Master Red's experiences after he stumbles across the entrance to the Tower by "accident." **_

"_**Why Pokemon?" You might ask when you see this; to which my answer would be Why not? I thought about doing a crossover for a little while and weighed a couple of ideas centered around inserting a character from anime/manga into the tower as an irregular. Red seemed different enough from many of the characters already present while also not being overpowered enough to break the main plot line of ToG.**_

_**The story takes place alongside canon events as I understand them through ch. 121 of the Tower of God webtoon. If you are new to reading Tower of God, I don't recommend reading this until you get through to part 2, because there may be some slight spoilers, especially in the later chapters.**_

_**III**_

Red wasn't sure how to describe how he felt at the moment. What he could gather however, was that it wasn't at all pleasant. It wasn't Mt. Silvers constant Blizzard that was getting to him; he had been on the mountains peak for almost 2 years now. He wasn't injured, yet he was; and in a way he had never expected.

Before him lay a purple cat-like creature, slumped over in the snow, unconscious. It was Espeon, the most recent addition to his party of pokemon, and in this case the last to fall. Directly across from his fallen pokemon, another trainer, Gold he remembered, was jumping up and down, celebrating with his Typhlosion.

**I lost…**, it occurred to Red. It took a few moments for his brain to process this most recent bit of information, and why wouldn't it? This had never happened before in Red's career as a trainer. He was the undefeated pokemon master, the one single handedly defeated the Rocket terrorist organization years ago at the age of ten. During his official time as champion, people had stopped challenging him for fear of their pokemon's lives.

"Hey." A voice snapped Red out of his daze. He returned his injured Espeon to its Pokeball, it would be fine there for a while, but he would have to treat its burns soon. After doing so, he turned his gaze to fall upon the other trainer. The other boy was dressed in a red hoodie and black shorts, a black and gold cap turned backwards over his black hair.

**That's right… **Red thought. He reached into his pack to pull out his wallet. They had made the customary wager at the beginning of the battle. As he pulled out the 5500 he owed to his opponent, his entire body fought back. It felt so wrong, he was the one who got money, not the one who handed it out to others.

"Hey, I don't have all day." The trainer called out with annoyance. "I have to get off the freezing mountain before the sun sets." He flinched as Red's gaze sharply turned back to him, Red eyes almost ablaze from under the brim of his signature hat. He gulped and took a step back, inching closer to his Typhlosion. He may have beaten the legendary trainer in battle, but his instincts were screaming at him to keep his mouth shut.

Red moved forward without a word and held out the money to Gold, his face once again shaded by his cap. The other trainer took it gingerly, watching Red the entire time. Once it was in his grasp, he turned around and began sprinting back down the mountain, his Typhlosion following closely behind.

III

*SLAM* Red's fist echoed as he slammed it against the side of the cave wall. It had been two days since his defeat at the hands of Gold, and instead of calming down, had instead gotten angrier. "DAMMIT!" the frustrated trainer shouted, punching the wall again.

"Pika?"

Red looked down and saw his first pokemon looking up at him. Red's gaze softened. His Pikachu was obviously worried about him. With a sigh, he turned away from the wall and started to walk towards a small campfire s short distance into the cave. The rest of his pokemon were gathered around it, trying to keep warm. The blizzard atop the mountain had gotten worse over the past couple of days, forcing Red and his pokemon to seek shelter in a nearby cave. The sheer boredom wasn't doing much for the master trainer's frustration, leaving him little to do but loaf around. The zubat in the cave had been eliminated effortlessly quite awhile ago, and the rare Golbat didn't put up much of a fight either. As he sat by the fire, he looked over his team.

Pikachu had followed him back the fire, still regarding him with obvious concern. It had been the first pokemon he had ever received back in his hometown of Pallet. It hadn't liked him much at first, but over time the two had grown on each other. Now the electric mouse was one of his most loyal and trustworthy companions, and while it may not look it; arguably one of the strongest.

His espeon was still recovering from the burns it had received in the battle, but it looked like she wouldn't be out of commission for too much longer. He had raised the psychic feline from a young and energetic eevee. The two of them had been through a lot together.

Over in the corner laid Red's largest Pokemon, his massive snorlax. The large, almost bear-like creature spent almost every minute of the day flat on its back asleep. The few times it did awake were to eat massive helpings of food. Due to this, the pokemon had grown quite fat, tipping the scales at close to one ton. While Snorlax may seem like a lazy, and gentle giant; if ever awoken or attacked by an enemy, the ball of fat could turn into a force of nature when angered.

His fourth pokemon, Venasuar, would seem like an odd choice for an area so covered in ice and snow. It was a Grass type, with a large flower growing out of its back. Originally, Red hadn't wanted to bring it along, knowing that the environment was hostile towards plant life, but has eventually relented. While the year round winter weather had been rough on the pokemon at first, it seemed to have built up an immunity to the frosty conditions.

His Blastoise yawned in the dim light of the fire, drawing further into its rock hard shell. The large blue turtle was one of Red's more versatile pokemon. It could easily carry him across large bodies of water, through whirlpools, and even up completely vertical waterfalls. With the Pokemons two massive water cannons, it was even possible to hover in the air for a short time.

A roar echoed through the cave, shaking the walls, causing the other pokemon to snap to attention. A bright flash of light lit up the back of the cave, a wave of intense heat rolling in shortly afterward. Recognizing the roar, Red shot up and looked back into the cave., Pikachu jumping up to his shoulders. Snorlax grumpily sat up, annoyed that its slumber had been interrupted. "Pikachu, use Flash." Pikachu gave a quick nod and began to glow, giving off enough light to clearly see in the dark. With a nod to the group, Red dashed off deeper into the cave, Pikachu illuminating the way. The other pokemon stretched out and followed after. As the trainer and his pokemon ventured deeper into the cave, darkness crept in around them. Pikachus glow was the only thing lighting the way, aside from the random blasts of light and heat coming from deeper down.

Before long, the group came to a large open space in the caves. "Pikachu, brighten this place up." With a nod the rodent intensified its glow, casting light throughout the area. The open area was quite large, much wider than the tunnel they had taken to get here. The area seemed half destroyed somehow, large claw marks and cracks emanated through the rocks.; many of them broken and deformed. The heat in the room was comparable to a sauna, Red could feel himself begin to sweat the moment he walked in. With another flash of light and heat, the trainer found what he was looking for.

With a great bellow, flames poured poured out against the wall, causing the rocks to glow red and begin to melt. A great orange dragon was raging in the back of the large room, slashing at the rock walls and spitting out jets of fire. This was the sixth member of Red's team, and it hadn't taken kindly to losing.

"Charizard!" Red barked out with authority. The fire pokemon paused its rampage and looked back at its newly arrived trainer. "Stop all this; you're going to bring the ceiling down on us." The trainer stated, looking around at the almost completely demolished area his pokemon had carved out in its rage. The pokemon growled back in response, baring its teeth. Red returned the glare with its full intentsity; showing he wouldn't take no for an answer. After a short time the fire type stopped growling and looked away. It extended its arm and slammed it into the side of the cave once more, causing the room to shake with its impact. "Charizard!" the dragon seemed to smirk before beginning to walk back to its master, seemingly satisfied. The fire type had always been the most temperamental of the group, quick to anger and slow to cool down. As it crept closer however, it began to shrink in the glare of its trainers disapproving crimson eyes.

A rumble set the group on edge. The cave began to shake, rocks beginning to fall from the ceiling. "Shit!" Red shouted, ducking down to cover himself and Pikachu. The others followed suit, Blastoise popping into its shell, Charizard throwing a wing over its exposed trainer. It wasn't long before the rocks seemed to settle, and luckily enough all of the pokemon had escaped without a scratch. Red moved out from under his Pokemons wing to survey the damage. Some of the room they were in had collapsed, but their way back out still seemed to be open he noticed with a sigh of relief. As Pikachu's glow once more began to intensify, he saw something in the far end of the half destroyed room that caught his eye. He slowly began to move towards the other side, careful to avoid the debris on the floor. His pokemon followed after him and the glow from Pikachu. As the trainer approached the other side, he could fully see what he had glimpsed form the other side.

Before him was what seemed to be a large carving in the side of the wall. He couldn't make out what it was supposed to be, all that was visible were a series of rectangles grouped together, seemingly becoming thinner as the rose higher on the carving; which extended high above him and his pokemon. **Charizards tantrum must have revealed this… **he thought. Something a massive as this carving wouldn't have missed his initial scan of the room. Looking around, he saw a large amount of debris, some chunks of stone bigger than the pokemon that had caused the damage. The trainer reached out to the carving; freezing when it began to move at his touch. He pulled his hand back in surprise. Something this massive moving so easily? Curious, he reached out again; this time pushing on the stone carving.

He noticed it wasn't giving, but swinging like some kind of door. A clean line was visisble in the gloom as he continued to push it open. After a few feet however, it stopped. He pushed harder, trying to open the door further to no avail. Red looked into the gap that now existed between the two sides, an obvious pathway leading further back into the cave. Curioisity getting the better of him, he decided to check it out. The small gap was barely enough for him to get through however, much less his larger companions. Looking back at his pokemon, he saw that his Snorlax had managed to make it down with the others and surprisingly wasn't asleep. The commotion from the cave almost falling it must have been enough to wake it up for a while. "Snorlax, see if you can move this door any further." The large pokemon complied, lumbering over to where its trainer stood. After Red had gotten out of the way, it thrusted itself against the weight of the door, trying to pry it open further. After a couple minutes of fruitless effort, the pokemon slid down, tired out. "That's fine." Red said, trying to cheer up the heaving pokemon. "Guess you guys'll just have to jump in your balls for a little while." He pulled out the red and white pokeballs and returned all of his teammates except Pikachu one by one. They may not be able to squeeze into the small opening the door provided, but there was no way he was heading into unknown territory without his team.

Once everyone as packed up in their pokeballs, Pikachu jumped back on its trainers shoulder, lighting the way once more. Squeezing himself into the small opening created by the doors, he found himself in another empty space, this one more like a hallway. He began to walk forward careful to check for any pitfalls in the ground below or zubats swooping down at him from the dark. After a short time a bright light appeared far off in the distance. **Sunlight? **He thought, stopping to think. To his surprise, the light began to intensify rapidly; almost seeming to race towards the master trainer, threatening to engulf him for being where he wasn't supposed to. Red covered his eyes reflexively to guard himself from the suddenly much brighter area. The ground gave way beneath him, Red felt himself falling down into some dark abyss, Pikachu's light seeming to disappear. A soundless scream rang out from the trainers throat as he felt his consciousness leave him.

III

Red opened his eyes slowly as he slowly crept back to consciousness. He sat up with a grunt. He looked around to gauge his surroundings, mildly surprised at what he saw. He was in a large circular room with a stone floor and walls. Carvings covered the walls, with dimly burning torches interspaced between them. He noticed Pikachu was lying still at his side. Reaching over, he shook the mouse gently.

"Pika." Pikachu stirred to his side, responding to its trainers touch.

Red turned his attention back to the room around him. **Where am I… **he thought. The last thing he remembered was forcing the large stone door opened followed by a bright flash of light.

"Piii…" the mouse began to growl, something in the dark drawing its attention. Red followed its gaze. He jumped up when he made out two glowing eyes in the corner of the room. **What's this… **A bright flash of purple light flashed, causing him to shield his eyes.

"My, my…. It seems I have a guest…It's been a while."

Red lowered his arms, his eyes slowly readjusting. When his eyes came back into focus, he took a step back in surprise. "What?" he muttered softly, Pikachu growling by his side. Before him stood a strange humanoid creature. It was completely white and seemingly dressed in some sleeveless purple shirt and shorts. Each Hand only had three fingers, and its wrists and feet had some sort of blue gems embedded in them. The most notable features of the strange creature however were its long rabbit like ears and its featureless face. It seemed to be spinning some sort of long rod with a blue-green sphere on either end. Red was confused, he had never seen something like this before. Was this some kind of new Pokemon?

"It's been such a long time since a person has opened and entered through the door." It spoke. It approached Red at a casual pace, giving only a passing glance to the electric mouse at his feet. "I welcome you to the tower."

III

"Another one already?" a man with silver hair commented, looking down at the scene below him. He was wearing a green jacket, and a large backpack. "Wow, seems things are going to be busy on the first floor today."

"Evan come on, we don't have time to wait around." A female voice called back to him.

"Seems he brought some kind of pet with him too, weird."

"Pet?" A woman walked up beside where the silver haired man stood. She was wearing a white long sleeved jacket, over a black shirt with a red tie, matching the color of her skirt. Her hair was tied to the side in a long black ponytail, decorated with a spiky red ornament. Her red eyes almost glowed in the darkness. "That's odd, but he doesn't seem all that special either." It had been a rather disappointing outing for Yuri Zahard, first the news of an irregular entering the tower turned out to be some random kid, and while he did turn out to be rather cute, he took off with the weapon she had loaned him. "Just another regular ,Evan?" She asked with a sigh, turning back to the path they had been walking down.

"I…" Evan muttered, not sure where to begin. "I'm not sure." There was something different about this boy, he could tell. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

III

It was speaking to him, good. Red was carefully analyzing the situation. The thing before him obviously wasn't human, so it must be a pokemon of some kind. There were very few Pokemon that could communicate with human language; and almost all of them were the Psychic type. Psychic types were not the most common variety of Pokemon out there, his own Espeon was considered a rarity. He hadn't seen something like this in some time, not since Mewtwo anyway. His teeth gritted at the memory. That was a day he wished he could have back. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. An undocumented Pokemon was ahead of him, and if Red had his way, it wouldn't be for too much longer. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-!" The yellow rodent started to spark. "-chu!" A large bolt of lightning shot out at incredible speed, arcing towards the now motionless figure.

"?" The creature jumped back, avoiding the blast of electricity.

**Good, it worked. **Red thought, smirking. He had created some space between him and the unknown pokemon. Now he had time and space, the time and space necessary to pull out a certain frustrated lizard. He reached into his bag and pulled out a red and white pokeball. He reared back and threw the ball into the space between him and the creature. "Go, Charizard!" In a flash of light, the orange dragon appeared in a literal blaze of glory, blasting fire into the air.

"What is this…" the creature muttered, obviously confused at what it was seeing.

"Charizard, Shadow Claw." The pokemon roared its approval and with one great flap of his wings, charged toward its unknown opponent. Red was still smirking, this was going to be an easy capture. Psychic type pokemon were weak to ghost type attacks. Usually he would use his Espeon for ghost type moves, but she was still too injured to battle. The bunny eared creature stood still, gazing upon the approaching dragon with interest. When it slashed down with its claws, the unknown pokemon side stepped almost lazily. It seemed so interested in the fire pokemon, it almost missed the seeing the actual attack…almost.

Red squinted in disappointment when the creature before him dodged black shadow claws coming down for his head. Shadow Claw was a tricky attack, one which counted on the opponent dodging the first attack to get hit with the surprise attack from the opponents shadow soon after. Now that the Psychic type had seen through his attack, he doubted it would work again. **Time for the direct approach. **"Charizard, Flamethrower!" His pokemon reared its head back, inhaling sharply. It exhaled with a roar, firing a jet of white hot flame towards its once more still opponent. The Fire seemed to envelope the target completely, but Red could tell something was off.

"Enough of this." As the jet of fire came to a halt, it was revealed that the unknown creature was unharmed. A blue sphere of light completely surrounding him, some fire still blazing on its surface.

**Barrier… **Red thought, remembering the move he had seen several pokemon use over the course of his travels. This one seemed to be exceptionally strong, perhaps on par with Mewtwo's.

"I have no intention of fighting you child." The creature released the barrier and turned to face Red once again. "Call off your pets."

"Pets?" Red asked, honestly confused. "Don't you recognize a pokemon when you see it?"

"No, I have never heard of such a thing." The creature answered simply.

**Just where the hell am I? **Red thought. Pokemon were everywhere, the idea that someone hadn't ever heard of them was ridiculous. It was as simple as going outside and finding something that moved. He motioned to Charizard to back off, the lizard did so, but not without growling at its former target.

"I can tell you are confused about your surroundings." The creature said, gesturing to the large stone room. "My name is Headon. Guardian of the lowest floor of the tower."

"Tower?" Red questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's difficult to say." Headon answered. "The tower is many things to many people." He brought his hand under his chin. "I do not remember inviting you here, so you must have opened the door yourself."

"Yeah, I remember that." Red answered.

This seemed to bring Headon to pause for an instant before continuing. "That makes you an irregular…tell me, what is your name?"

"Red."

"Easy enough to remember." Headon said casually. "Might I ask why you have entered this tower?"

"I just opened a door." Red replied. "I didn't know what was on the other side."

"That doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do." Headon commented. "You never know what dangers could be on the other side."

"If you never take a chance you'll never get anywhere." Red countered. He had made plenty of risky decisions along the path to becoming a champion. The road hadn't been easy but he had made it through in one piece.

"Hmmph. Well said." Headon said, seemingly amused at the boys words. "Nevertheless, no one comes across the tower by chance, there must be something you desire.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What do you desire? Fame? Glory? Power? Revenge?" explained Headon. "…or is it something that surpasses all others?" The creature waved its staff at the ceiling once again. "Whatever you desire, that is here."

**Whatever I desire? **Red thought, relaxing his body and letting his mind wander. There wasn't much he really had a strong need for. He had already become the champion of Kanto, he had caught all of the pokemon, what more was there for him to do? Gold's face flashed into the forefront of his mind again, causing him to clench his fists in anger. The pain of defeat had weighed heavily on the champions mind ever since his loss to the kid from Johto. "You said I can get stronger?" he said, with a lowered head.

"The only thing I can tell you, is that the answer is at the top." Headon continued. "If you wish to have your answer, head to the top. Power, strength, if you seek abilities and answers which are like magic, head to the top. All of the universe's wisdom, glory and happiness, it has been placed at the top of this tower." The rabbit-man turned away. "However, climbing the tower is a long, dangerous and difficult journey."

"We can take whatever you throw in front of us." Red answered.

"Good, I like to hear such confidence. Then to see whether or not you have what it takes, shall we begin the test?"

"Test?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To determine whether or not you are worthy to go to the next floor, each floor holds a test." Headon explained."If you pass the test, you can proceed to the next level. The test is determined by the guardians of each floor. Of course, the difficulty increases with each level." Red nodded slowly, not sure what to think of this influx of new information. With a tap on the ground, a large portion of the wall slide away, revealing a large steel cage lit with blue light.

Red's eyes widened momentarily in amazement at what he saw inside. It was a monstrous eel. Black in color with two large horns extending from its head. The jaws clamped shut in an impressive display of force. Red found that the creature reminded him vaguely of the Gyarados he was familiar with.

"The test is ball." The rabbit man said, waving his staff. "It is a very simple test. The ball you see over there is about as large as a person, if a strong external force is applied to it, it will pop.

"So my goal is to go in there and pop the ball?"

"Yes." Headon replied. Somewhat surprised at Red's reaction, especially at his lack of fear in the face of the monster before him. "That monster's name is white steel eel, and it lives inside the sacred walls of the tower…normally it is very mild mannered, but…it is breeding season right now and it hasn't eaten anything in a month."

"Sounds like the Safari Zone." Red muttered to himself. The tourist attraction in Fuchsia had gotten quite dangerous during breeding season, especially for the Nidoking and Rhyhorn populations.

"This tank behind me is filled with water." The guardian continued. "Even with your little pets, I doubt they could help you too much with this test." Headon let out a sigh. "You don't seem to have any kind of ability on your own either. I wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea for you to turn back now?"

Without a word Red strode right past the creature before him to stand in front the steel cage gazing out at the massive form of the steel eel before him. Now that he was a little closer, he could make out its detail more clearly. The upper part of its body was black and seemingly armored, while its lower half and tail were red and white, almost like a koi fish. He found it too be a strange mixture of intimidation and elegance. He could sense that this wouldn't be something easy to take down, he could also sense that he wanted it. He stuck his hand out, feeling it slide into a vertical wall of water. **So everything behind these bars is one giant tank of water. **He almost laughed. This was simply too easy, perhaps if this creature was in the wild it would be a bit more of a challenge, but locking it in this tank with him on the outside? Like shooting fish in a barrel. "Pikachu…" He said, looking down to his smallest pokemon. It turned towards him with a smirk, seemingly onto whatever plan his master was planning. "…Thunderbolt."

"Pika-chu!" with a cry, the yellow mouse once more fired a bolt of lightning, this time aimed at the water tank before it and its trainer. The electricity surged into the tank, flowing through the highly conductive water. As the bolts met the steel eel, it began to writhe in pain, the force of twenty thousand volts coursing through its massive body. Red kept up the attack for almost a minute before calling off his pokemon. This was almost unfair. By now the electricity had done its damage, the steel eel barely able to keep itself from sinking to the bottom. The master trainer reached into his bag and pulled out two more pokeballs, one red and white like before, and another black with a golden design on the top. He threw the red and white ball at the ground. With another flash of light, it was Blastoise, the large blue turtle which appeared; with Headon watching on with obvious curiosity.

"Blastoise, let's get in there and get that ball." The turtle grunted in acknowledgement. Reaching the steel bars, it simply bent them out of shape enough to allow its massive bulk entrance into the tank of water. Red pulled off his hat and pack, laying them beside his smallest pokemon. "Pikachu, make sure Charizard doesn't do anything stupid." The yellow rodent nodded in response. As Blastoise dove into the water, Red jumped onto its back, taking a deep breath. As the two entered the tank of water, Blastoise's water cannons sprouted out of the back of its shell. Using the force of the cannons was an idea read had gotten after a particularly powerful shot. Once he and blastoise had worked out the kinks, it had sped up water travel greatly. They reached the other side and seconds, and Blastoise picked up the black rubber-like ball easily. Red's mind was somewhere else though, his gaze drifting back to the almost crippled steel eel still trying valiantly to stay afloat. He glanced down at the black and gold ultra ball in his hands. He poked his blastoise on the head, drawing the turtle's attention.

Pointing at the ball in his hands, he then pointed at one of the cannon's on his pokemon's back. He couldn't throw a ball underwater, so why not shoot it? His pokemon seemed to get what he was implying. He readied one of his cannons, pointing towards the weak eel. Red jammed the ultra ball into the cannon with a smirk. With great concussive force, the ball was shot out at the eel, when it made contact, it bounced off, but not before the entire mass of the eel was transformed into red light. The light was then sucked inside of the now open ultra ball, which closed with a click. It settled on the bottom, shook once, twice, then finally came to a stop. The eel had been captured. Red had to stop himself from yelping at his success. That eel would be a great addition to his collection. Blastoise once again fired off his cannons to propel towards the exit, with the ball in tow; but not before picking up their new team mate.

III

"Hahaha, now that is priceless!" Yuri laughed audibly, her arms clutching her stomach. "Not only did he pass the test so easily, but he runs off with the eel!"

Her guide however, didn't share his partner's mirth. **What are those things? **He thought, glancing at the small metal spheres in Red's hands as he emerged from the water. He squinted, trying to get a better look. **Was that red light Shinsoo? **The guide had never seen anything that worked like the trainers tool before. He vaguely remembered some kind of shinsoo bombs being used in the upper floors that had a similar design, but that's where the similarities ended. The ability to carry around creatures like the steel eel so easily… The creatures below him seemed foreign as well. He hadn't seen anything quite like them in all his years as a guide. A turtle, mouse, or large lizard is common enough sure, but these things below him were completely alien…

III

"Impressive…" Headon muttered, the slightest bit irritation evident in his tone. This was his test to see if one was willing to face their own fears to climb the tower. It was far too difficult to actually count as the first floor test; all a new person had to do was prove they were willing to die for their goals. But this irregular…this…boy…hadn't just completed the test; he hadn't even broken a sweat. The rabbit's gaze ran over the three pokemon once more gathered around their trainer. "… but are you going to rely on those pets of yours forever?"

"They're not my pets." Red's crimson gaze turned towards the guardian of the first floor. "They're my allies, my companions…" he turned to look at Charizard, who had made his way back over to his trainer, still glaring at Headon. "…my friends."

"…Friends.." Headon trailed off, his mouth curling in a grin.

III

"Friends?" Evan muttered, cocking his head to the side. He had met summoners and anima before during his time in the tower; but he had never heard their servants referred to with such a phrase. Beasts, summons, servants, thralls, even pawns; to give them such a familiar term was odd.

"Evan!" The guide tore his gaze away from the Pokemon trainer. He saw his partner once again moving quickly towards the exit. "Hurry up. We need to get to the second floor!" The guide sighed before heading off after her. She could be such a pain sometimes, tearing him away from the events below just when something interesting happened.

"So, what do you think of that one." Yuri asked as Evan caught up to her, a glimmer of interest in her eyes.

"Well, to be honest I'm still not completely sure." He replied, placing a hand on his chin. "I didn't sense anything special coming off of him, but his mastery over those creatures of his was amazing; not to mention how he went through a test worthy of the twentieth floor with seemingly minimal effort."

"Hmm." Yuri hummed. When she had heard an irregular was possibly coming into the tower, she had admittedly high expectations. The reputations of Phantamium, Enryu, and Urek had made sure of that. Baam had initially been a bit of a disappointment, but after seeing just how strong his motivation was, she was intrigued. The addition of another irregular, this one with abilities even her guide wasn't sure how to make heads or tails of was just icing on the cake. Her face broke into a grin. "Seems I have two reasons to get to the second floor then."

III

"Call them what you will." Headon added, his own grin diminishing. "Before you pop that ball, I have something to ask of you." Red simply turned to look at the floors staff wielding guardian, an eyebrow raised. "You are quite talented, more so than many of those who enter the tower; what I ask of you is a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Someone came to me a short time ago with hopes of climbing the tower." Headon began. "However, she was unable to complete the test."

**Someone who failed? **Red thought. What did this have to do with him?

"You see, a friend of hers is on the second floor." Headon continued. "What I ask of you is that you get her to the next area."

"Why would I do that?" Red asked. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea of helping someone out, it was the suddenness of the request. Something just didn't feel right about it.

"Surely it wouldn't be difficult." Headon added. "For someone as skilled as you, moving one girl from this floor to the next shouldn't be too strenuous a task."

"I think I'll just go by myself thanks." Red replied, reaching into his bag to pull out a knife. If what he had been told before was true, he would need to pop this ball to move on.

"That won't work." Headon pointed his staff at the large black ball. "You would need something much more powerful to pop that ball; I doubt your…friends…would be able to do it either."

"Then what am I supposed to do…" Red growled out impatiently.

"With my help breaking such a thing would be simple." The guardian began. "But I don't know if I can help out the type of person who refuses to help young women in need."

**Damn. **Red gritted his teeth in annoyance. The rabbit wasn't going to let him go alone would he? "If I bring her with me, you'll pop the ball?"

"Perhaps."

The master trainer let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine then, where is she?"

The guardian grinned once more before tapping the floor with his staff. A small section of the far wall slid open to reveal a small hidden room. "Come on out." A few seconds later a figure stepped out of the room. It was a person, Red saw, one that came up about shoulder height. The only features he could make out about the girls features were blond hair and matching eyes; the rest was hidden under a long brown hooded cloak. She walked up to stand slightly behind the guardian who had been testing him minutes before. "This…is Rachel."


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: Here is chapter two. Not much to really add this time; except some minor info about how the flow of the story will go. You see, Red isn't meant to be a replacement for Baam, in fact most of his story will run alongside him. Red is replacing Akryung; solely because he really doesn't do much in the story. If it isn't explicitly changed, please just assume canon events took place. For example, up to this point all of the events surrounding Baam, Koon, Rak, Rachel, etc. are all the same. This chapter will cover the first test on the second floor, and show a little more of just what Red's team is capable of. Rest assured though, he has barely scratched the surface.**_

_**IIIII**_

As the light began to fade, Red began to scope out the surroundings through squinted eyes. They seemed to be in a large open field. After accepting Headon's request, the rabbit-man had tapped the ball with his staff, causing it to shatter. The two of them had just now been successfully teleported to the second floor. The trainer looked to the side to see Rachel rubbing her eyes, seemingly also affected by the bright flash of light. He wasn't sure why the guardian had wanted him to bring her along. From what he could tell, the other tests were going to be dangerous; and if she couldn't complete the first one…

"Mike test. Mike test! One! Two! Three!" a voice echoed around the two. The pair looked around in surprise, trying to locate the speaker. After his eyes had re-adjusted, the trainer was mildly surprised to see a small golden box floating in the air far above their heads; which was apparently the source of the new voice. "Hello everyone! Regular members have entered the tower." It continued. "This is the second floor, and I sincerely welcome you to Evankhell's floor!"

"So this is the second floor." Rachel mumbled.

"Looks like we're outside." Red said looking around. **I can even see the sky…**

"The floors of the tower are very large." Rachel responded. "I've read a couple of books about it; there are walls if you go far enough, and the sky is just an illusion."

"How do they do something like that?" Red asked.

"I.." Rachel began.

"This floor is also called the Floor of Test! The reason is because this is the level where you are deemed worthy of climbing the Tower!" The voice spoke once again, drowning out the blonds words.

**That's right. **The trainer thought. **Every floor has a test like the last one. Hopefully they're not all that easy…**

"Then, minor details aside; shall we begin with a simple test first?" it continued. "You might as well get a good warm up exercise!"

Rachel seemed to tense up where she stood; an action not missed by the experienced trainer with her. She was obviously nervous at the prospect of another test so quickly. The first test had been quite intimidating Red remembered; thinking back to the large steel eel guarding the ball. For the second time he found himself wondering just how she had done it…

"The first test is very simple! I will begin announcing the rules, so listen carefully!" The voice continued after a pause. "The following are the rules for the first test! The number of regular members in this floor totals four-hundred. All you have to do is make that four-hundred go down to two-hundred!...Method?...By any means! The moment the number of regular members goes down to two-hundred, this test will end!"

**So, a battle royal to halve the numbers of the competitors… **Red thought. It seemed that whoever was in charge was trying to quickly weed out the weaker contestants. The trainer glanced at his companion again to see she was upset by this latest piece of news. He had thought she wasn't the type to fight when he had first seen her; now that fact was driven home. She couldn't defend herself; that was why he was chosen to make sure she got through this floor. Red sighed and began to think. It was obvious that many of the other competitors were going to be human or at least human-like, Rachel was proof of that; so deadly force was out of the question. It would probably be a good idea to just use Venasaur to dig out a hole and hide out until it was finished; but that just wasn't his style. To be honest he wanted to see where his team stacked up to these so called 'regulars'.

He pulled out a pokeball and lightly tossed it to the ground before him. With a bright flash and a roar; his Charizard was once again before him. He turned to Rachel, finding her staring at the orange dragon with a stunned expression; she wasn't used to large creatures seemingly appearing out of thin air. "I have a plan." He stated simply.

She continued to stare at the pokemon before snapping herself back to reality with the shake of her head. "w-what?"

With a nudge, Pikachu jumped from its trainers shoulder, landing softly on the ground below. "We're going to jump on Charizard's back." He said, pointing to the large fire lizard. "From the skies we'll have a better view of where the others are."

Rachel glanced warily at the growling dragon as it eyed her with a hungry look. "I'm not sure…"

"Don't worry, Charizard won't hurt you." Red said, looking at his pokemon with a hardened gaze. "Will you?" The pokemon growled at the order, baring its teeth. After a couple of seconds under the crimson eyed trainers stare however, it turned its head down and grumbled. Red walked over to his pokemon and jumped on its back. After positioning himself slightly behind its neck, he held his hand out to Rachel. She approached cautiously, eyeing the dragon the entire way. Despite Reds order to behave himself, Charizard was still a fierce looking beast; and even worse, one that knew the girl was afraid of it. When she finally grasped his hand, the trainer pulled her up with one strong tug.

"Pikachu." Red called out as Rachel positioned herself behind him. " Keep up with us on the ground." The electric mouse nodded, something like that would be easy. "If you run into anybody along the way use thunder wave, that should be enough to take them out of the test." Once again the pokemon nodded in response. Thunder wave was one of the weakest electric type attacks, but one that was ideal for simply incapacitating an opponent. The level of voltage used was only enough to shock ones nervous system, scrambling the electrical signal running from the brain to the rest of the body. The ultimate affect was short term paralysis; no lasting harm could be inflicted. "You ready?" Red asked his passenger.

"y-yes…" she stuttered back; nervously wrapping her arms around the trainer's midriff.

"Hang on tight." He jabbed his pokemon lightly with his heel, signaling that it was time to go. With a roar, Charizard extended his great wings. With a single flap, it and its passengers launched themselves high into the sky. Almost in synch, Pikachu shot off into the tall grass in pursuit.

"AAHH!" Rachel shrieked in fright at the velocity in which they climbed into the sky; her fear caused her to squeeze down harder on the person before her. Red grunted in discomfort. As soon as they began to level out, the red-eyed trainer began to scout out the area below them. The long grass seemed to go on for miles in every direction, with only a couple of raised spots in the general area. The tall grass didn't bother the veteran trainer in the slightest, dealing with it being a nearly every day occurrence in the life of a trainer. He could see several disturbances in the expanse of grass below, obviously where the fighting was taking place. With a nudge from its trainer, Charizard shot forward, closing in on the first of several battle taking place on the ground. As he passed over it, the electric mouse shadowing the great dragon leapt from the grass as well, small twin bolts of lightning shooting from its cheeks. These bolts collided with the two combatants, one a seemingly ordinary teenage boy, and the other something which looked like some odd cross between a bear and an octopus.

**Two down… **Red thought, a smirk forming on his face. It seemed that many of the combatants weren't prepared for this type of surprise attack. Moving on from there, the trainers team shot towards the next fight going on a couple of yards away. Repeating their strategy, two more of the regulars were shocked in paralysis and left frozen on the ground, stunned looks on their faces. This was repeated by the pokemon team another half dozen times, scoring at least two knock outs each time; and once getting five at once. As they progressed though, something began to occur to Red. With each passing of a fight, it became more clear; and it began to unnerve him. He had been fighting since he was ten years old; fighting through forests and caves, through gym leaders and trainers alike, even to the top of the supposedly impossible to climb Mt. Silver. Even so, something was happening here that he had very little experience with. These others were not fighting to simply knock out or incapacitate their opponents; they were going for the kill.

Death was not an uncommon sight to Red, his travels had exposed him to the hardships of life at a very early age. Life was delicate, he had learned; it wasn't something to be thrown away simply. Back in Kanto, Team Rocket had been the source of a lot of it. It wasn't uncommon for one of them to kill someone before stealing their pokemon; even more common as a way to eliminate Pokmon that hadn't proven themselves useful. After witnessing this first hand in the caves of Mt. Moon, it had been a goal of Red's to destroy the group entirely; a goal he had seen through to the end. Headon's words echoed. **"Whatever you desire can be found at the top." **With such a promise, it was unsurprising that people would be willing to die for something like that. It was completely reasonable. A fact that made it all the more irritating. Was the test supposed to be like this? There had to be another way; one that didn't lead people into mortal combat with each other.

"A-are you ok?"

Red jumped back to reality. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Slowly, he became aware that he was shaking; not with fear, but with rage. People down below them were killing each other, just for a chance to move on. His hands gripped down hard on the lizards back, gaining the lizards attention. "We're landing." Red said through gritted teeth.

"What about the plan?" Rachel said in surprise. She thought things were going quite well. At least three dozen regulars had been taken out by Pikachu's thunder waves, and they hadn't gotten a scratch.

"I've changed it." Red almost growled out. He was going to end this here and now. Diving quickly, Charizard turned towards the nearest raised hill. As they homed in, they could see a figure on the top. The figure seemed to jump when it noticed the large orange dragon bearing down on it at high speed. It fumbled with something in it's hands in a seeming panic. Closing the distance between them and the ground, Red made out a crossbow in the persons hands. Mustering enough courage, the crossbow was fired from the now confirmed to be male figure on the hilltop. The bolt only made it about halfway to its intended target before being incinerated mid-flight by a jet of fire shot from the target's own mouth. Scared senseless at this point, the man dropped his weapon and stood frozen, gazing up at what he saw to he his eminent demise. He never noticed the small yellow mouse running up the side of the the hill, nor did he notice the weak jolt of electricity zapping him in the back.

As Charizard landed beside their now unconscious former attacker, Red leapt off and threw another pokeball in a single motion. With a low rumble, it was Venusaur who appeared in a flash of light. The trainer threw down his pack and began to search for something.

"Why did you want to land?" Rachel asked, leaping down from Charizard.

Red didn't answer. Instead, he pulled out a large white cloth and a bottle of water. He dowsed the cloth with the water, drenching it completely. Ripping the cloth in two, he handed one piece to his companion. "Here, put this over your mouth."

"What..why?" she asked, grabbing the cloth.

"Just do it." Red brought out two pokeballs and returned both Charizard and Pikachu. His other two pokemon wouldn't be able to help out anymore. Pikachu would hate him for sending him into the pokeball; it was something the rodent despised with a passion. "Alright Venusaur." The large leafed quadruped turned its bulky head towards its trainer. "Cover the area with Sleep Powder." Red commanded. "I want this everyone in these fields unconscious as soon as possible." The trainer finished his command, holding up the wet cloth to his face. He had learned that he wasn't immune to the spores released during this particular technique, and had learned to take precautions when using it. Venasuar began to hum for a short while, getting its body to manufacture enough of the needed spores for the technique to succeed. After a short time, a cloud of blue erupted out of the plant on Venusaurs back, shooting upwards to two hundred yards into the air above them. Red and Rachel watched as the wind began to carry them around the area, quickly falling to the ground despite their small size.

**That should do it. **Red thought as the spores began to hit the ground. Using Venusaur's spores to end the round early was something he had originally thought of when presented with the rules. He had decided against it however, opting instead to test his pokemon against the others. Pikachu had been more than enough, as long as he acted as the eye in the sky. The regulars were simply to distracted with their own fights to noticed the quite yet intensely fast mouse tearing through the grass. When things turned deadly, that strategy had gone out the window. It simply wouldn't be fast enough to stop them from killing each other. Using sleep powder made it all too easy, but Red simply did not want to let the other combatants kill each other just so he could test his other pokemon. Mere seconds after the spores hit the ground, Red let loose a sigh of relief as the sound of hundreds of snores greeting his ears.

"Amazing…" Rachel muttered, the cloth still covering her mouth. She had only known Red for close to an hour now, but he had done nothing but shock her at every opportunity. First he had apparently breezed through Headon's test without breaking a sweat, then she learned he could summon creatures with those metal spheres of his. A fire breathing dragon, a mouse that could paralyze people, and some weird plant thing that had just put the entire testing area to sleep! Her gaze turned to the trainer in question, who was now once more surveying the area. **With someone like this with me… **she thought. **…maybe I can make it to the top. **

Red continued to look out into the field until he was satisfied the spores had hit everyone. He should have put them all to sleep from the very beginning he realized, but at least the test was over. He returned Venusaur to its pokeball, and once more brought out Pikachu. The rodent was obviously cross with him over getting stuffed inside one of the balls again. A quick scratch on it's next was enough to calm it however, and soon it was back to its usual perch on the trainers shoulder.

"Ah well.." the voice rung back in. "Part one of the test has ended…I guess?" The announcer seemed a bit put out. Must not be too often that one participant puts everyone else to sleep. "All remaining regulars…well… all remaining conscious regulars stop what you are doing and hear me! Out of the…what that can't be right….but…whatever…Congratulations to you all! Let us now begin part 2 of the test!"

**Part two? **Red thought with annoyance. There were only two of them left, why couldn't they just end it here?

"I will now tell you remaining few the rules." The voice continued. "The next goal is to make a buddy. Out of the remaining regulars, you must make two of them your buddies!"

"Buddies?" Rachel questioned.

"What the hell is this." Red mumbled. First they let you fight each other to the death, then they expect you to make up and form a team. This was crazy, teaming up with someone who was trying to kill you moments ago was ridiculous. Not to mention that there were only two people left in this area.

"Also note, you have five minutes. If you fail to make a team in five minutes, you are disqualified. Take note, once the clock has stopped ticking you must be in physical contact with your teammates."

"Five minutes!" Rachel exclaimed. She frantically thought for a second before turning to Red. "What should we do?"

Red sighed. "Well, I was planning on waking somebody up, but they'll be under for at least another hour."

"Well…there…there has to be something you can do!" Rachel replied. "Can't one of your…things do something that could help?"

"They're called Pokemon." Red said flatly. The trainer took off his hat and ran a hand through his black hair. They wouldn't ask them to do something impossible, he thought. That would destroy the entire point of the test. With how fast they seemed to figure out most of the regulars weren't fit to battle anymore, there must be a way to keep up the number of eligible individuals. As he figured it out, a small grin crept across his features. "There's another person."

"What?" Rachel questioned.

"There has to be." Red answered. "They have a way to keep track of how many of us there are, so they must know there is enough to form a team." Racheal seemed to brighten slightly, some form of hope rapidly returning. With a flash, Red had once again thrown out Charizard. "We'll find them faster in the air." The trainer leapt onto the back of the flame lizard once again, followed shortly by Rachel; who seemed to have gotten over her initial wariness of the creature. With a mighty beat of its wings, the group was off, in search of another remaining regular.

IIII

Androssi Zahard was a little put out. Well, that might be putting things mildly. Nothing had gone her way since she had begun this test on the second floor. While it had begun well enough, with her mowing through her first two dozen opponents with minimal effort, then something strange happened. As she finished off her twenty-fourth opponent, some strange green powder began to fall from the sky. As it sank down to the floor, the people around her started dropping like flies. She shot her hands over her mouth, but it didn't help, she knew she had inhaled some of the particles. While all the others in sight seemed to be falling to the ground, she was unaffected. **What is this? **She thought. Crediting it to her unusual abilities as a princess of Zahard, she dropped the hands from her face. As Androssi began to look around, the sound of hundreds of snores rang in the air. **They're all asleep? Who? **

When the intercom came on once again, she felt relieved. Even though she hadn't made it trought in the same dominating way as her predecessors, she would make it through easily enough. When it spoke the rules of part 2 however, she could feel her heart sink. Find somebody in less than five minutes? There wasn't anybody else; they were all asleep in the field! She frantically looked around and begun to run; hoping to run into someone else. Being gifted with some of Zahard's power, the girl could run far faster than any normal person, but in an area as large as the testing field, it really didn't count for much. It would take her at least five minutes just to get to the other side of the area, and that was if she ran in a straight line!

With four minutes to go, she had made it to the top of a nearby hill. Looking around she could see…nothing…absolutely nothing…everyone was asleep…EVERYONE.

With three minutes to go, she began to try and wake up the others. It began easily enough, with shouts and shaking, but soon devolved to slaps and punches. She began to wonder is stabbing them would be enough to wake somebody up…

With two minutes to go, she was getting desperate. This simply couldn't happen, she would be a laughing stock; the zahard princess that had failed on the floor of tests. She couldn't let that happen. Somebody had to still be here, somebody, anybody. **This can't be happening…it just can't! **she thought angrily, stomping the ground in fury.

With a minute to go, the poor girl had almost completely given up hope. There was nobody in sight; well nobody that wasn't off in dream world. She was sitting on top of a boulder, staring out at the fields. **Somebody, won't somebody please appear… **she sighed. **…Not that there is any chance of that…everyone is asleep and I'm the only one left…dammit… and I never even got to know who put everyone to sleep like that… **She continued to stare off into the distance. **Come on… Miracle Happen! **Nothing happened. **Happen!...Happen!...Happen!**

*ROAR*

"What?" Androssi said, jumping up from her sitting position. Off in the distance, she could see something approaching, and it seemed to be picking up speed. It was large, and orange she noticed. As it crept closer, she was able to make out just what it was that was approaching. It was a dragon, a large orange dragon. **I'll take it. **She thought, anything is better than failing. To her surprise and joy there seemed to be a person on top of the rapidly approaching dragon. **There's already two!...wait…** A couple of seconds later, the dragon landed on top of the hill with a thud, the wind hitting her like a gale as it slammed to a halt. Not one, but two figures leapt from the back of the creature, both looking at her. The first was boy wearing blue jeans and a short sleeve red and white jacket over a black shirt. He had red eyes and a red and white hat sitting on top of his black hair. On his shoulder sat a creature she had never seen before, it seemed like a mouse, but was much too large, and far too yellow. She found herself admitting that both of them were "cute" not that she had much interest in such things. The other person was a girl in a large brown cloak, covering up almost all of her. Androssi decided quickly that if she had to kill anyone to be a part of this trio, it would be her.

"We need someone else in our group." The boy said flatly. "You want in?"

"Don't you already have three?" Androssi asked, preparing to draw a weapon. She was going to be in this team, it was her only chance. Only twenty seconds remained.

"Oh." Red said, turning his gaze to Charizard. "Charizard doesn't count." With one fluid motion, he pulled out a pokeball and returned the pokemon.

The princess found herself gaping in surprise. What had she just seen? **Never mind that. **She thought, clearing her head. Time was ticking down. She glanced back at Red to see him staring back at her with a blank expression. "You're asking me to join you?" The trainer nodded, then extended his right hand; his left was already grasped onto Rachels.

As the clock struck zero, Androssi grasped his hand, and the new trio dissapaered.

IIII

"What, only three people passed the first round?!" The results from the latest round of testing had just come in, and the Test Director Yu Han Sung was quite confused. "Quant, just how did you conduct the test to get such results? Did you have an endless death match or something?!"

Quant, the man in question was one of several test administrators for the second floor. He had been in charge of the last test. "You…you know my style." The red-head said nervously; his hand scratching the back of his head. "I hate complicated things so…from the start all I had was a thirty minute survival match."

"And you're saying in just thirty minutes, out of two hundred, only 3 survived…" The blonde director responded in a sarcastic tone. "Are you really going to use such non-sense as an excuse?"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Quant shouted. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. In just thirty minutes everyone else was eliminated!"

"And just who are those three?" the director countered. "Did Zahard's princess or an irregular come in or something?"

"Um…well…it seems…" Quant began, becoming nervous once more. "It seems there was a princess…but…"

"But what."

"She didn't cause it to happen…"

"Cause what to happen." Yu han Sung's golden eyes narrowed. "Are you…hiding something?"

"N-No…" answered the administrator. "It's just… when I said the others were eliminated, I didn't mean it in a normal sense…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Out of two hundred candidates, only 3 made it through." Quant continued. "But only thirty seven of them were killed. The rest, well…"

"Spit it out."

"The rest…just went to sleep."

The director gazed at the red haired administrator in disbelief. "They fell asleep? One hundred and sixty potential regulars just fell asleep mid-test?"

"It seemed to happen instantaneously." Quant explained. "To be honest we have no idea what could have happened…We haven't been able to wake any of them up either…"

"Do you think it was caused by one of the survivors?"

"We…don't know."

"..Right…" mumbled Yu Han Sung. This was an odd occurrence. He had never heard of something like this happening before. "I'm assuming the princess had a good number of those thirty seven deaths?"

"Yes, she was responsible for thirty two. The other two don't even have a single one between them."

The test director sighed and put a hand up to his head. How in the world was he going to deal with this? "Argh.. How am I supposed to deal with this situation… Why did this have to happen while Evankhell is on leave… If the proctor finds out what happened here…no, he probably already knows by now…it could be off with our heads…"

"Uaak! Sorry!" Quant shouted, frightened at the thought. "Isn't there any other way?"

"What can I do? From here on, you'll just have to appear with your friendly neighborhood god to save you."

"No! Please! I don't want to die yet!"

"You should start giving to charity and emptying your mind."

"Whaa! Please Han-sung!" Quant was now begging on his knees. "I'll…I'll fill this room with a coffee mix for you!"

"I guess there's no other choice." The director said with a sigh. "I'll try to figure something out."

"For real!" Quant replied. "I Love you Han-sung!"

"Shut up and Prepare the coffee mix."

III

_**AN: That's the end of chapter two. Next chapter will cover the groups introductions to each other, as well as the beginning of the crown game. Pairings to this point are as yet undecided. If any of you readers have any input feel free to voice it, I'm not even close to making a decision. **_


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Well here is the third chapter of An Irregular Trainer. This chapter covers the next part of the floor of tests, as well as Red's team beginning to know each other a little better. There isn't much more to add, so...enjoy!**_

Text - normal

**Text - thought**

_Text- telepathy_

_**IIII**_

After the test had finished, the group had been seemingly transported to a new location. The group was now in a large hall with high white walls. Windows near the ceiling lit the area. Red took in his new surroundings with a hint of caution. After the last test, there was not telling what could happen in this new area.

"So, which one of you did it?" Red glanced to his left to see their last second partner eyeing him warily. The trainer raised an eyebrow. "One of you put all those others to sleep…" Androssi's eyes flitted back and forth between Red and Rachel.

"…Neither." Red replied.

"Neither?..." the new girl questioned. "Don't try to hide something from me, you two were the only others left, so you had to have something to do with it!"

Red was about to respond, but he was cut off by a new arrival. "Hello there…chosen regulars." A man had appeared before the group with short blonde hair, and wearing a white jacket over a black suit. "I congratulate you on making it this far. I am Lero-ro, and I will be your test administrator. Normally..."

"So you're the one in charge?" Red asked the newcomer, a hint of anger in his voice.

Androssi's eyes widened momentarily. If this person was an administrator of the floor, they were most likely a high ranker as well. This guy had just interrupted one!

"No, that would be the test director." answered the administrator.

"So whose idea was it to sick all of those people against one another?" Red continued, his gaze sharpening.

"The administrator." Lero-ro explained. **This one seems to be riled up… **"I take it you aren't happy with the way they were handled?"

"Happy?" The trainer questioned. "People were trying to kill each other!"

"I don't know what rock you've been hiding under kid, but that's how the tower works." The administrator explained. "The strong push past the weak, those who can't cut it, simply don't climb."

"I can understand that." Red answered. When he was rising through the ranks to become a Pokémon master, such a thing was necessary. To become the champion, you had to step on the dreams of every other trainer, even friends and family. "But even so, it isn't necessary to throw people into death matches with each other!"

"What is wrong with you!" shouted Androssi. "This guy is a ranker!"

Red's gaze shifted to her. "And what is that?"

"You…don't know?" the princess questioned. Her red eyed companion just continued to glare. "A ranker is someone who has already reached the top of the tower and received a ranking. Out of the millions of people who climb the tower only two can become a ranker, they're ridiculously strong!"

A chuckle brought Red's attention back to the newly arrived administrator. "Look kid…" he began. "…if it bothers you that much, then you could always change it…that is…if you can get to the top."

"Fine then."

"Hmmph." Lero-ro smirked and ran a black gloved hand through his hair. "Anyway, back to what I was saying earlier. I am the administrator of the test here, Ranker Lero-ro. Normally your group would be under a different administrator, but because there are so few of you, we've decided to put your team in with my earlier group. Now it is probably only a formality at this point, but I have to try a little test. Oh, and just so you know, if you don't pass this test, you will not be able to take the next test!"

Red could see Rachel tense from the corner of his eye.

"And now, I will begin the test…" The administrator held out his hand, palms out, and fingers extended.

There was a blinding flash of light. Red grunted as what felt like the force of a Pidgeot whirlwind slammed into him, picking him off the ground and sending him through the air. With a thump, he landed hard on the ground below. **What the… **the trainer picked himself up off the ground. As he looked up, his crimson eyes widened in surprise, he had been thrown nearly the entire distance of the room! Looked around, he saw that the other two people in his group hand faired far better. Rachel had seemingly only been pushed back about a dozen feet, and the other girl had barely moved at all.

"Mr. Red, are you all right?" the cloaked girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"That was shinsoo wasn't it?" asked Androssi.

"Yes, the force that I just used was Shinsoo" answered the administrator. "In an instant it was compressed and used to create a barrier which pushed you three. Just as all of you surely know, Shinsoo exists throughout this tower; it allows us to breathe and provides moisture. Depending on how you use shinsoo however, it can also become a deadly force. Extremely dense shinsoo is powerful enough to mangle a person, and because of that it is often used in combat. It is common for some to show side effects to large concentrations of shinsoo. If you are not well adapted to it, then you simply don't have the qualities to be in the tower." With another wave of his hand, a thick wall of bluish light appeared before him. "If you are able to come through this barrier, it means you won't receive any negative side effects. Others will be disqualified."

"Well that seems easy enough." Said Androssi. She walked straight toward the wall before passing right through it almost effortlessly.

"As expected from a princess of Zahard." Commented the administrator.

"Of course."

Rachel took a big gulp and began to walk forward as well. When she reached the wall, she reached out to touch it, finding it warm to the touch. She pushed forward, and found she could pass through it, albeit with difficulty. It was a lot like trying to move through a wall of thick maple syrup, but after a short time, she found herself on the other side.

Red reached down to pick up his hat which had managed to fall off when he was sent hurtling through the air. He wiped it off and placed it back on his head. **So they got through easily enough… **The trainer strode up to the wall, meeting his Pikachu at its base. He noticed with some interest that his Pokémon hadn't been through back anywhere near as far as he had. The trainer stuck out his hand to touch the wall, as his fingers touched, sparks shot off from its surface. Red jerked his hand back in surprise.

"Oh my, that could be a problem." The test administrator commented. Red raised an eyebrow in response. "That was a particularly violent reaction." Lero-ro added. "I highly doubt you could walk into that wall and come out alive." The trainer gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Tough luck princess, but such is the tower."

"What do you mean by that Administrator?"

"You have to pass as a team, if one of you can't make it through, then all three of you fail."

"What?!" Androssi took a step back in surprise. "That's not fair at all!"

Lero-ro sighed. This would be the second time today he would have to give this speech. "You know what the most important trait for climbing the tower?" he asked. "That is, luck. Luck that allowed you to be born with a strong body, luck that made you smart, luck that made you wealthy, luck that saves you. The very same luck that gives you a team, and the reason you've made it this far at all."

"chet-"

While Lero-ro was explaining the concept of Luck to the others, Red's mind was at work. **He's right; there is no way for me to walk through something like that on my own. **Just a simple gust of it was enough to send him flying like a Caterpie in a light breeze. **However… **Pikachu hadn't moved nearly as far as he had. **I don't know what this shinsoo stuff is, but it could work… **"Pikachu." The yellow rodent looked up at its master. "See if you can get through there." The Pokémon nodded and reached out to the wall of shinsoo. To its obvious surprise, with a little effort its arm passed right through. Soon, the Pokémon was standing on the other side with the others. Red grinned.

"Well that's…strange." Lero-ro said, looking down at the yellow mouse which had just made it through. **His pet has more shinsoo resistance than he does? **

Reaching into his pack, Red pulled out a pokeball and pressed its release button. In a flash of light, his Espeon appeared before him.

Lero-ro raised an eyebrow in surprise, he was more than a little confused at what he was looking at. Androssi was surprised as well, but to a lesser extent. She has seen something like this before, but the elegant purple cat was new to her. On the other hand, Rachel had been expecting something like this, Red always seemed to have some useful creature hidden away somewhere.

After staring into its trainers eyes for a couple of seconds, the purple feline began to move towards the wall of shinsoo, passing through quite easily as had Pikachu before it.

"Kid, you know even if your pets can get past this barrier, you won't be able to move on." The administrator asked.

Red smirked back. On the other side of the wall, the Espeon's eyes began to glow white. A slight humming sound became audible to those on the other side as well, and their attention turned completely to the Pokémon before them. With a crack, the cat was gone, and in its place stood Red.

"What the?!" Androssi took a step back. "Did you just teleport?"

"It's called substitute." Red explained. "It allows the Pokémon to swap its position with something else; in this case me."

"Pokémon?" The princess asked.

"Yes." The trainer confirmed. Behind him, Espeon was once again making its way through the wall of shinsoo towards its master. "This is Espeon, and the small yellow one is Pikachu."

Lero-ros' face stiffened, any surprise he might have shown at the boy's sudden appearance wiped from his face. **What did this kid just do… he barely has any shinsoo resistance at all, and yet he passed the test. These "Pokémon" of his, I have never seen anything like them before. He must really be a skilled anima to have pulled that off…**

With another flash, Espeon had been returned to its pokeball. Red turned to look at the administrator. "So, I take it we pass?"

"Yes, you three pass." Lero-ro said eyes locked on Red. **I can't place it… **The administrator thought. **…but something tells me this one hasn't even begun to show what he's capable of. **He turned and began to walk away from the group. "Take the hallway to the left, my assistant will meet you at its end."

"You're not administering this one?" asked Androssi.

"No, I have to check up on my normal group, they should be finishing up their second test soon. If you pass this next test, you'll see me again though." With a wave of his hand, the blond ranker disappeared down a separate hallway.

IIII

"Hello, I am the test assistant Yellow."

The group of three had traveled down the hallway silently, not a word spoken between them. At the end of the hallway, they had come across another large open room. In the center stood a woman with short blonde hair, wearing a yellow and black shirt and black pants. "Because you are the only team here to take this test, I'll tell you the rules personally." She gestured for the group to follow her to the far end of the room where a large grey stood ominously. "Please, go through this door and your test will begin."

"That's it?" Rachel asked. "Shouldn't there be more to it than that?"

"I can't say anymore, please enter through the door."

"But..."

"Never mind it." Androssi stated. "We must not need anything else." The princess strode towards the door, Red following soon after.

"Wait for me!" Rachel called out, hurrying in after her teammates.

After walking through the doorway, they found themselves in a pitch black room. Dozens of red doors surrounded them in a circle. In the center sat what appeared to be a man in blue and yellow robes, her long blonde hair tied up and kept in place with a long red pin. "Welcome regulars" the man said as the group first noticed him. "My name is Yoo Han-Sung, I will begin administering your test." He took a sip from a coffee cup before continuing. "Actually on this floor, I am the director of all the tests."

"So you cleared the death match we had to get through?" Red asked.

"Ah yes, Lero-ro warned me about you, Red." The director countered. "Yes, I did clear those tests, but such is the way of the tower. The weak are removed to make way for the strong." The red-eyed trainer squinted in annoyance.

"The weak are removed?" Red questioned. "That could easily be done in a less bloody way."

"Is that so?" The director responded. "Well if you can get to top perhaps you can change things."

"WHEN I do, I'll be sure to do so." Red answered with authority.

Han-Sung chuckled. "Ah yes I'm sure." He took another sip form his coffee mug." Well then the steps for this test are very simple. Do you see the door's behind me." He gestured in a circle. "Within ten minutes out of all of these doors, you have to find the right one and exit through it."

"The true door?" Rachel asked. "Out of all of these?"

"Yes, it's actually quite simple." The blonde explained. "All you have to do is to find the true door out of these twelve. If you manage to do so, then you will all pass this test. However, if you do not open a door within ten minutes then you will fail and if you do pick a door within ten minutes but it is the wrong one, then all of you…will die."

"D-die?" Rachel muttered.

Androssi began to grin. "So what are the clues?"

"There will be no more clues."

The princesses' grin began to falter. "No more clues? Then how are we supposed to find the right door?"

"Then, the test will begin."

"You can't be serious!" Androssi shouted. "Someone would have to be psychic to figure something like this out."

"You're right." Androssi turned her attention back to Red, who was once again handling a red and white pokeball. "We would need to be psychic." He threw down the ball to once again reveal his Espeon. _So, which door would we have to go through girl? _It was times like this where Espeon psychic abilities could come in handy. Aside from being able to substitute its position with another, the cat like Pokémon enjoyed a wide variety of psychic abilities. Including telepathy and limited mind reading.

"That one again?" asked Androssi. "What is it going to do this time?"

"You'll see."

The purple cat turned its gaze towards the blonde test administrator who was gazing back at the cat with obvious interest. **What's that thing he's summoned? **Han-Sung thought. **I wonder if he's some kind of…wait…** The test director could feel something itching at the back of his mind. The cat's eyes were glowing white, its gaze penetrating. The itching grew more intense. **That thing…it's reading my mind! **He began to mentally block it out. **GET OUT OF MY HEAD!**

Espeon flinched as if in pain. _Hey, you alright? _Red asked _Yes, I'm fine. _Espeon responded. _It seems this one caught on rather quickly. The answer to your question is any door. Choose any of them within ten minutes and you will pass. This human is off, I don't like him. _Red nodded and pulled out his pokeball to return his psychic Pokémon. _Thanks. _

"That thing of yours, it just read my mind didn't it?" Han-Sung asked, glaring daggers at Red.

"Yes, she did."

The director's eyes narrowed. "And I assume you found what you were looking for?"

"Yes, if we pick any of these doors within ten minutes then we will pass."

"Wait, seriously?" said Androssi. "That purple cat thing just read red that ranker's mind?!"

With a sigh, the test director stood. "Yes, pick a door and go through it; you've all passed." The trio began to move towards the closest door. "However…" They turned back to face the blonde. "…I will have to prohibit you from using such tactics again Mr. Red, at least until our testing is finished." The master trainer stared at the test director for a few seconds before nodding in understanding. "Oh and miss…Rachel." The girl in question turned her attention towards the director. "You're the one Headon sent up just now yes?" she nodded in response. "If you would please come with me for a second, there is something I wish to discuss with you." The blonde girl turned to face her teammates.

"Go ahead, just hurry back" said Androssi. Red gave a nod. As Rachel turned back to the director, she felt someone grab her arm. She turned back to see Red gazing at her before silently adding. "Watch yourself; Espeon said something is off with this guy." The blonde nodded at her teammate before walking towards the waiting director.

IIII

After Rachel left with the director, Red and Androssi were seemingly left alone in a large waiting room. Red was now sitting on the ground, his back to the wall. Androssi had decided to lean against the wall rather than sit. "So," she began, breaking the silence. "How many of those things do you have?"

Red looked up at her. "Things?" he replied. "They're called Pokémon, short for pocket monsters. To answer your question, I have six right now."

"Could I see them?"

A grin crossed Red's face. He was proud of his Pokémon, and would gladly take a chance to show them off. The trainer reached into his bag and pulled out five pokeballs. He threw all of them out into the open room and after their customary flash, his team appeared. "Wow." Androssi said lightly, taking a step forward.

"Don't."

She turned her eyes back to Red. "Don't what?"

"Don't get near them." Red explained. "Especially that one," He added pointing towards the orange dragon currently stretching its wings. "That's Charizard, he hates everyone."

"Even you?"

"He…tolerates me."

"Are the other three as dangerous?"

"Three?"

"Well the yellow one and the cat seemed to be decent enough around others."

"Right." He looked to his side where Pikachu was sitting with a bored look on his face. "Well the purple one is Espeon; she's alright with other people. Pikachu here though…"

"Oh I'm sure he'll be fine." Androssi said, walking over to Red. "He's so cute, can I pick him up?"

"I wouldn't…" but it was too late, the princess had already gripped the mouse.

"Piiikaa-CHUUU!" The rodent growled, discharging a mild amount of electricity.

"Ahh!" Androssi shouted, dropping Pikachu back to the ground. Her eyes narrowed in fury. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" She raised a leg to stomp it out of existence. "I'll KILL YOU!" Her foot collided with something hard, but it wasn't the floor. To her surprise, her foot was stopped by a clear, by solid rectangular shape. Through it, she could see Pikachu smirking up at her. She pulled back her foot and jumped back. "What was that?" she asked, turning her attention back to Red.

"Reflect." Red answered. "Espeon created it in front of Pikachu to keep him from getting hurt."

"It blocked my attack by generating that shape out of mid-air?"

"Pretty much."

The princess sighed and leaned back against the wall, glaring daggers down at the still smirking Pikachu. "I've never seen creatures like these Pokémon before, where exactly are you from?"

"Kanto."

"What?"

"Kanto, that's where I'm from."

"What floor is that on?"

Red raised an eyebrow at her question. "What floor?" He asked. "What do you mean?"

"What floor of the Tower is it on, obviously."

"I don't even know for sure how I got here." Red explained. "I just sort of ended up on the first floor with some rabbit guy."

Androssi was getting confused. With everything Red said, he kept getting stranger and stranger. "Well, forget about that then." She replied. **How can you not know what floor you're on? **"In this Kanto place, does everyone have a…a...uh..."

"Pokémon."

"Pokémon. Yes. Does everyone have Pokémon?"

"Not everyone, but a great deal do." Red replied. "They are an integral part of our lives. Almost everything we do involves Pokémon in some way." He looked around. "But here, I haven't seen very many at all."

Androssi began to think. "Are they used in battle as well?"

"Especially battle." The master trainer replied, a glint in his crimson eyes. "That is how war is waged, how the peace is controlled, and how the rulers of an area are decided. In the several towns and cities in the area, the person with the strongest Pokémon is the one in control."

"How strong were you back in Kanto?"

"I was the best."

Androssi's eyes widened momentarily. **Must not have been too strong of a place if one regular on the second floor is the best they have… **"How did you know you were the best?"

"How did I know?" Red repeated. "I went to every city and defeated the best they had." The trainer explained. "After I did that, I challenged the ruling bodies of the area, who were dubbed the elite four. I defeated them too, and after them the champion." Red turned towards his companion and locked his eyes with hers. "I was the best because I ran over anyone who challenged me, and stomped out the best the area could offer."

Androssi looked into the trainer's eyes and felt a slight chill run down her back. She could tell this was a person who had been through battle; this was someone who was willing to literally fight to the top.

He looked down and began to scratch Pikachu's back. "I did that when I was ten years old."

"TEN?!" the princess nearly shouted in surprise. "Well how old are you now?"

"Sixteen." The trainer replied. "For six years I was the best in Kanto…" he trailed off.

"Was?" Androssi questioned. "What happened?"

Red pulled down his cap. "I don't want to talk about it."

She looked down at Red in surprise. Right now he was showing something she had yet to see. From the minute she had seen him he radiated an aura of confidence, absolute surety of his ability to pass the tests laid out thus far. But now, he almost looked…mournful. "Well, I guess I've asked enough questions for one day." She said after a time. "Do you have anything you'd like to ask me?"

"Hmm" Red thought for a moment. "The administrator called you a princess. What are you the princess of?"

The girl cocked her head to the side in confusion. "You mean you really don't know?" She asked.

"No."

"I'm one of the Princesses of Zahard."

"Is that a place? Or..."

"You don't know who Zahard is?" Androssi asked, absolutely stunned.

"No."

"What kind of a rock have you been living under?" the princess asked. "Zahard is the ruler of the entire Tower!"

"So you're his daughter then?"

"Well, more like an adopted daughter." Red looked at her in interest. "You see, Zahard does not have any children of his own, but goes out and adopts girls who show promise. Before I became a princess the family I belonged to was a branch of one of the ten great families, however its only ranker was the family head. It really was nobility facing its end." As she was going, Androssi couldn't believe she was reciting her life like this to someone she had just really met about an hour ago. Maybe it was because his story was fairly similar to hers. "In order to get stronger, the head of the family was determined to produce a princess, so if a girl showed talent he would adopt them."

"I'm guessing you were one of them?"

"Yes." The brunette answered. "After we trained, we would eat, but depending on how well you did, you sat at the table in that order. The person sitting at the top had a great feast and the person at the bottom, nothing but a piece of stale bread. I was the youngest and weakest, so I couldn't even sit at the table. I had to be satisfied just eating a piece of dry bread on the floor." She crossed her arms across her chest before continuing. "Then one day, by chance I managed to defeat an elder sister much bigger than me. That night I ate food at the table, and it was so delicious."

"I bet it was." Red added. "Some of the best meals I've ever had came after the hardest times."

"Yeah…well…I probably wouldn't eat it if you have it to me now." Androssi continued. "I guess you could say, that was a bit of a culture shock for me. After eating my meal, I looked the others and thought to myself, what does their food taste like, how delicious are they? By then, the taste of that stale bread was long forgotten. A few days later, I managed to taste all of the food on that table. Isn't that amazing? Me, who couldn't even sit at that table for months…can you guess how I managed to do it?"

"Yeah." Red answered. "The same way I became the champion of Kanto…by beating everyone else."

"Well, it seems you have passed the test." The pair looked up to see Lero-ro walking towards them from the far end of the room. Red stood up and began to return the members of his team to their respective pokeballs.

"Yes we did." Androssi answered. "But the director wanted to talk with our third member, and she hasn't come back yet."

"Don't worry about that." The administrator answered. "I'm here to offer you a great opportunity."

"Like what?" Red replied.

"The director has decided to hold a bonus game for everyone." Lero-ro explained.

"Bonus game?" Androssi asked. "You mean another test."

"A Bonus game is a little bit different from the other tests, attending it is entirely up to you and not attending doesn't constitute any type of penalty. The administrator continued. "However the winner of this game will be awarded maximum points and earn the right to instantly move on to the next floor."

"A chance to instantly move ahead?" Red questioned. "What kind of game is it?"

"You would be participating in something called the 'Crown Game'." The blonde explained. "Details will be given after we move to the game arena."

"So, what do you think?" Red asked his teammate. "Want to enter?"

"For a chance to move up instantly?" Androssi responded. "Of course."

Lero-ro clapped his hands together. "Well now that that's settled, follow me to the game arena; your teammate will meet you there." The administrator headed off down one of the many hallways, with the princess and the trainer following close behind.

_**AN: So, Red owns the shinsoo barrier and door guessing tests with the help of Espeon. I don't know if Androssi and Rachel had to do these tests the first time around, but even so, I think they would have. As you may have noticed, Red has a very low tolerance to Shinsoo which will become an important issue later on. Also, it may seem a little odd for Androssi to tell her life story to some random guy like that, but you have to remember it was after Red did the same thing, and their stories are quite similar if you think about it. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: Hello, sorry for the long wait, but I have unfortunately been busy with exams. That and I wasn't exactly sure how to approach the crown game. I tried several ideas, but I eventually decided on a retelling of the events of the early parts of the game, and Red's reactions to them. For this to work, I had to take a lot of lines directly from ToG. Sorry about the lack of original material in this chapter, but it just wouldn't work right without it. I wanted to have the crown game in one chapter, but I had forgotten how long it was. **_

_** Oh, and shout-out to Tracer28 for putting the link to this on another website. I was pleasantly surprised with the spike in viewers.**_

_**IIIII**_

As the trio continued down the white walled hallway, the administrator spoke up. "It isn't common for regulars from different groups to compete in the same events." The tall blonde man kept his eyes forward, not bothering to look back. "However, it isn't often only one team passes the first area either." He looked over his shoulder. "I assume you had something to do with that, Princess?"

"You would be incorrect." Androssi replied. "I eliminated just short of thirty…the others…" she trailed off.

"All fell asleep… I heard." Lero-ro added. "I had thought it was some ability of yours, but if it wasn't you…" The man's golden eyes moved to gaze at the third member of their party. "…It must have been him." Red glanced up from below the brim of his hat. A grin crept up on the face of the administrator. "You know, I think this game has the potential to be very interesting. Two princesses, a skilled anima, not to mention the others…"

"Excuse me." Androssi questioned. "Did you say two princesses?"

"Yes." Lero-ro answered. "I assumed you knew. There is another princess in the other group. Having one compete is rare enough, but two is incredible."

"What's her name?" the princess questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Anak Zahard."

The mild look of surprise to cross the girl's face didn't go unnoticed by Red. If they're both daughters, even adopted daughters of the same family, shouldn't they know of each other? He shook his head slightly, the longer he was here, and the stranger things seemed to be.

"Ah, here we are." The group looked around to find themselves walking out of hallway and into a large circular room. The yellow walls stretched far up into the air; small pockets cut out into these walls each housing a small group of people.

Before entering the room, Androssi pulled up the hood of hear cloak, once again disguising herself. **Makes sense I guess… **Red thought. **If she's well known, it's reasonable to hide her identity. **

"Pick any of the open rooms you two." Lero-ro stated, heading to the center of the large room. "Your teammate will join you shortly." Red nodded and headed off towards the nearest one. Along the way, he spared a glance at the other competitors. Most of them seemed normal enough, but a few drew his attention. **Green lizard person, that guy have wings…an alligator? **

"Pika?" his Pokémon asked, confused as well.

"I don't know Pikachu; your guess is as good as mine." The trainer answered. If he had come across some of these "people" back in Kanto, he probably would have tried to catch them on sight. **It seems all types come to compete in this "tower"…** He had to admit to himself that he was interested in just what these things could do. After entering the room he had chosen, he sat down and leaned back against the wall, his companion following shortly behind. He hadn't known her for very long, but he could tell she was deep in thought. She had been that way ever since the administrator had mentioned the other princess. "What is it?" he asked. When she didn't respond, he asked again. "Hey, I asked what's bothering you."

"There shouldn't be another princess." Androssi answered. "They pick one every four hundred years."

"Guess he's mistaken then." Red replied. "Could just be the same last name."

The princess's mouth hung open. "You really don't understand do you?"

"What it's possible; people have the same last name all the time."

"What?" Androssi questioned. "I don't know how things are run in Kanto or whatever, but in the rest of the Tower the last name is your family name. To claim Zahard as your name is to say you are either Zahard himself or one of his daughters."

"Well then what do you think?" Red replied, slightly irritated.

"She's a fake, clear and simple." Her eyes narrowed once again, peering out at the others.

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, both observing the other teams gathered for the game. Their attention turned however, with the return of their teammate. She was practically wrapped in the same brown cloak as before, and upon entering the room, practically scampered over to where Red and Androssi were sitting. "Sorry for the wait." She said upon entering.

"So, what did the floor director want to speak with you about?" asked Androssi.

"Well, I need to talk to you two about that." Rachel answered, taking a seat between the two of them. "You see, I know someone on one of the other teams."

"Well that's not a big deal is it?" Red asked. **How would they even know that? **

"It is a big deal…at least to me." The blonde girl continued. "You see, the only reason he's here is because of me."

"Ooohh, is he chasing after his lost love? You horrible woman, leaving him behind like that." Androssi replied dramatically.

"It's not like that at all," Rachel said, waving her arms dismissively. "He's like a child, I found him one day all alone. I was probably his only friend for quite some time. When I was chosen to enter the tower he begged me not to go. I don't know why he is here, but…"

"But what?"

"I'd like to keep an eye on him if at all possible." Said the blonde. "To do that, I have to ask a favor of you two."

"What kind of favor?"

"If we advance here, I won't be able to watch him, so…"

"Hurry up, what is it."

"…would the two of you mind not competing in this game?"

"Not compete?" Androssi questioned. "There's a chance to instantly move up, and you're asking us to not even try?"

"…It would be a favor to me." Rachel quickly added. "I would owe both of you tremendously... just please..."

"Out of the question." Red stated flatly. "If there is an opportunity before me, I am going to take it. I don't want to sit around and waste any more time than necessary on this floor, my goal is to get to the top." Red had been thinking about the prize since it was put forward. If immediate advancement was such a prize, who knows how long the tests on this floor would take?

"..But..." Rachael stammered out.

"Enough." Androssi added. "We're not letting this chance slip by. If the boy made it this far, he could still meet you later on." Rachel opened her mouth to continue, but didn't let out a sound. Instead, she turned her eyes to the ground and began to sulk.

"Then, now that everyone is in place, I will not begin giving the rules of this game." The trio turned their attention towards the center of the room, where Lero-ro now stood. "In a word, the Crown Game is about, stealing the crown." He gestured to a bright, golden crown. "All of teams here will fight for the crown, and the last team in possession of it will be declared the winner."

** They're pitting them against each other again. ** Red thought. **Though with a goal like this in mind, it should be more controlled. The idea seems simple enough…**

"Though it may sound simple, the rules are a bit complicated. First, the game is played over five rounds with each lasting ten minutes. In each round, only five teams may advance on the crown located in the center of this room." The administrator gestured to what seemed to be a throne directly in the center. "The winner of the round is the team in possession of the crown once the 5 minute period has passed. The victor of each round moves on to the next, where four other teams will advance to claim the crown. After five such rounds have passed, the last team to possess the crown is the victor."

"To advance on the crown, each team must press the red button installed in each of your respective rooms. However, only the first five teams to press the buzzer can advance into the game. The only way to advance into the next round directly is by having a member of your team wearing the crown and sitting on the throne before the time limit for the round is up. When this occurs, the round will end regardless of the time remaining."

"Next are the special rules. If a team has possession of the crown at the end of a round, they may carry it into the next, however to do so, one member of their team must remain seated with the crown. If that person comes out of contact with the crown or the throne in the center of the room, the team will be disqualified. Also, if another team manages to sit on the throne with the crown, they will win the round." The administrator paused, his ear twitching. "CORRECT! The winner of the previous round carries a big risk into the next!"

**What the hell… **Red thought. **Did he hear someone say something?**

"But," Lero-ro continued. "Just because there's too much of a risk, if you keep delaying your chance… the game might just end without your team ever getting a chance to enter." The administrator picked up the crown and placed it on his head. "Some of you may complain that the rules are a little complicated. To simplify I will say this, the winner will be whoever is holding the crown at the end of the fifth round. All you have to do is simply steal the crown."

He placed the crown back down onto the throne. "Ah, there's also one more thing. In this game there is a team of regulars from another district participating as well due to some… complications. Ok then, you can read a detailed version of the rules on the sheets attached. Let the game begin!"

IIIIIIIIII

"Then we will now begin the crown game!" Lero-ro had left the area and was now broadcasting his voice through a yellow box shaped lighthouse far above the arena. "I will count to five; teams who wish to advance in the first round should press the buzzer before the count ends and then come out!"

One!

Two!

"We should definitely wait until the later rounds before entering." Stated Androssi. Red nodded an affirmative; Rachel continued to stare at the ground.

Three!

Four!

Five! BZZZZZTT!

Slightly surprised, Red watched as two teams made their way out into the arena. **That wasn't smart... **He thought. Moving out this early into the game was an extreme risk. In the best case scenario, one would have to make it through all five rounds, surviving wave after wave of attack. The first team consisted of a short boy with black hair carrying a long red needle, another boy holding two swords, and a much taller blonde one wearing a grey robe.

The second team had a normal looking boy in a purple jump suit, but the other two members were less than normal. One was dressed as a samurai, complete with two swords, and the third was a short green girl who had a long, lizard like tail. Her weapon was curious as well, a long green hook.

"Then the placements have ended!" It seemed that in the first round, only two teams would be participating. "Then, the first round of the crown game begins now!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"This time, I fight alone." Anak said quietly to her teammates. "You two, stay out of it."

"What, alone?" The dark haired boy replied. "You crazy?" Anak slowly walked up to the opposing team, her footsteps echoing throughout the arena. "Th... this girl..."

"Please, take us seriously!" The other short boy shouted, drawing both of is swords. "Are you trying to treat us like complete beginners!?"

"Seriously?" Anak replied. "Well that…depends on how well you do."

"F-Fine!" the boy shouted, advancing on the lizard girl. "I will take you on seriously! Alone!" He grit his teeth in frustration. "That impudent mouth of yours, I'll make it so you can never use it again!" He broke into a charge. "Then, here I goooo..." He stopped midstep, one of the girl's hands inches from his face. A bang echoed through the arena, and the sword wielding boy was shot back like a bullet into the arena wall, propelled by some unseen force.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

**What the hell was that!** Red through, jaw slightly agape. She shot someone away from her with something he couldn't even see. On his shoulder he could feel Pikachu shifting around a bit. Looking at the rodent, he could see its hairs were standing on end. **He seems to have an idea. **Turning to his teammates, Rachael seemed to be just as surprised as he was, but Androssi appeared calm as ever. "I'm guessing you've seen something like that before?" Red asked.

"Yes." The princess answered shortly. She stood up and moved closer to the exit. "She might be the one."

"The fake princess?" Red asked. He received a nod in response.

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"This lizard, how dare you do that to Kon!" shouted the boy with the red needle. HE began to charge, but was forced to jump back as the girl swung her weapon in a wide arc, missing his leg by inches.

"Hohohohohohohoh!" The largest of the three opponents shouted, charging the green lizard girl from behind. He swung his fist back and flung it forward, connecting with the girls head from behind. His fist was stopped cold. Anak reached over and grabbed the offenders arm, gripping it so tightly the forearm broke with an audible pop. As the man cried out in pain, he was thrown across the arena, burying himself in the wall. His partner with the needle followed suit shortly after.

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"heh" Androssi muttered from under her hood, a smirk crossing her face. The fake wasn't so bad after all.

Red was stunned at what he had just seen. That kind of physical ability was far beyond the reach of a normal human. Watching the lizard girl go against the others was like watching a group of common people attack a Machoke, it just wasn't going to work. He wouldn't be able to take on something like that on his own, but then again he wouldn't have to. His Pokémon could match that. His decision to stay back and view the others first was turning out to be a very wise decision. **I wonder how many of the others have abilities like that… **

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"What, you still wanna go?" Anak asked, putting a hand on her hip. The boy with the red needle was struggling to his feet.

With a shout, he charged the lizard girl, raising his needle high. "Kon, Shopin, RUN NOW!" The other two fighters, previously buried in rubble sprung up and sprinted towards the throne in the center; hoping to gain a surprise victory. "W-what the hell?" to their surprise, someone had already gotten to the throne. Their plan had failed.

Anak stood atop the throne, and with one flick of her green hook, knocked back all three of her opponents. Reaching down, she picked up the crown and placed it atop her head. "Now that I think about it, the five minute mark hasn't passed yet has it?" The first round was over.

"Ha, even though I'm on the same team, she's just too strong." Leesoo sighed. "Okay Anak, give me the crown now. Since I'll have to sit on the throne while you two fight..."

"No."

"Eh?!"

"I don't want to." Anak said lazily, leaning against the arm rest of the throne.

Leesoo stared blankly into space. Clenching his fists he shouted. "What the hell are we supposed to do if you're on the throne?! You idiot!"

"Because Anak has worn the crown and sat on the throne before five minutes, this round ends with Anak, Ship Leesoo, and Hatsu as the victors." Lero-ro announced from his aerial speaker.

"Anak, why are you doing this?" Leesoo shouted in frustration. "What are we supposed to do if you're sitting there? The person on the throne can't move! Why would the strongest on our team sit on the throne?! The one who should obviously sit on the throne is me!" He stormed up to the throne and grabbed the girl, trying to drag her off. "Why did you come out early if you were gonna do this?! Huh? Get up, right now!"

"Then, since the first round has ended, I will announce once again." Lero-ro continued through his lighthouse. "The individual who has worn the crown in the previous round must remained seated on the throne until the game comes to an end. They cannot leave the throne under any circumstances!"

"Excuse me!" Leesoo shouted. "Administrator, are you saying that until all five rounds have passed, you can't leave the throne?!"

"Yes, indeed."

"Th…that's ridiculous! Then isn't coming out in the first round extremely disadvantageous?! Leesoo shouted back. "At least let us rotate members… plus, there was nothing like that in the rules you said earlier!"

*sigh* "The details of the crown game are written on the instructions. I clearly said that you should read the rules attached by the door." The administrator replied.

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**Why would she do that? **Red thought, watching the team from his room. It didn't make any sense, the girl was so much stronger than the other competitors; if the others were anything like them, she would plow through with minimal effort. **Taking herself out of the game is completely idiotic…unless. **She had to be hiding something. There were high stakes involved in this game.

"Why would she do that?"

Red turned to see Rachel with a confused expression. "She's hiding something." Red explained. "The team can probably function just as well with her on the throne."

"That's right." Androssi added, turning back to face her teammates. "She isn't wielding a normal weapon."

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"Then shall we begin round two of this game." Lero-ro continued. "Because there's already a team from the last round, maximum additional entry is four teams! Then, I will now begin counting. Those who want to participate in the next round, please press the buzzer before the count ends!"

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Five! BBZZZZTT

Once again two teams entered into the arena. The first held a four eyed giant, a red eyed sword wielding Cyclops, and another plain looking swordsman. The second team had two members advancing towards the throne. One was a woman with short brown hair, and the other a very feminine looking man in a white robe and long blonde hair, a long red horn extending from the side of his head.

"What the, that woman?" Leesoo questioned, looking at the brunette. "It was just a little while ago when we were the last two to pass the shinsoo test, and now you've come to take my head? Aren't you a meanie."

The woman in question pulled out a long, curved knife. "You make me laugh. I'd never do anything with trash of a man like you."

"Chet, heart-breaking." Leesoo replied. "But, why are there only two of you?" Where's the third?"

The new pair looked back, eyes landing on a sleeping bag sitting back in their former room. "Hahaha, he..he's for the later half!" the brunette replied. "There's no reason for all three of us to gang up on a trashy man like you!"

"Ha, is that so?" Leesoo questioned, dropping into a fighting stance. "Looks like you're underestimating me. BRING IT BIATCH!"

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"By the looks of it, you are a swordsman as well, black haired kid." The Cyclops addressed Hatsu. "Did you know, as you get higher and higher up the tower, due to the high viscosity of shinsoo, wide swords with a high surface area do not exist. So in other words, our fight with swords may just be our last. Disappointing, but an inspiring opportunity nonetheless. Although I'd hate to swear such an opportunity, it looks like I do not have the luxury to duel with you fairly; because we require that crown!"

The pair of the Cyclops and the other swordsman charged towards Hatsu, swords pulled back and prepared to strike. Hatsu began to unsheathe one of his swords. "Sword that flies higher than any." After completely drawing the sword, he throws it far into the air. He grasps the other. "Sword that flies lower than any." He struck out with his second blade, blocking the other boys attack.

"Attack from above!" the boy shouted back to the Cyclops, who leapt high into the air. But as his sword came down, it too was blocked; by the sword earlier thrown into the air.

"Dammit this guy's strength, my sword is breaking!" The boy shouted out, his sword literally cracking under the pressure.

"Such trickeries!" The Cyclops yelled in frustration. "Hold him down!" With a shout, he leapt high into the air and swung down mightily. "This is the end!" His swing came down hard, but once again, Hatsu blocked it easily. "Amazing…" the Cyclops muttered between breaths. "To block even such an attack…"

"Even this guy is really strong." The until now quiet giant stated. "It's really an amazing team. Let's go with strength tactics this time. I'll join in the fight." He raised his right fist, which began to glow with a faint red light. "With the Martyr of the King's Army, I'll retrieve that crown in five minutes."

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Leesoo crouched into his stance as the blonde man and the brunette converged on him. He blocked a high kick form the blonde man, and grabbing his leg, sent him spinning through the air with a throw. Not missing a beat, he grabbed the brunettes forearm, halting her attempt at stabbing him from behind. He cocked back his fist and caught her across the face. "ABYOOOO!"

"Ugh! How dare you harm a ladies face!?" the brunette cried out in fury, hold an arm up to cover her now bleeding nose. "That guy's manners are complete crap! Since I know you at least a little, I even tried not to cut you too deep!"

"Hehe. Woman it's a different situation for me right now. I don't really have such a luxury." Leesoo kept his head on a swivel, watching both of his opponents. "But you were all in your face earlier, but why are you so considerate now? Be honest, did you fall head over heels for my manliness and just couldn't harm me?"

"W-who is?! Who would fall for you!" the brunette yelled furiously. "Even imagination has its limits! Fine! I'll stab your face into mush!"

"OK! Stab me please woman! Just like how the market women would with fish heads!" he entered his fighting stance once more. "You should've come at me like this from the beginning!"

"Look, it seems like being teamed up with monster like teammates has caused you to have some misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?

"You are an absolutely average man!" She rushed forward, knife at the ready. "Unlike those monsters, you are a normal person! Do you understand!?"

Leesoo leaned back, the edge of the knife ripping off a piece of his jumpsuit, before he could strike back he found his arms locked in place. The blonde man had captured his arms from behind! The brunette pulled the knife high. Leesoo shut his eyes, expecting his time had come. When he heard a metallic clash, he opened them again. "Hatsu!" His swordsman teammate had knocked the knife out of the woman's hand. "When did you?"

"What!" the brunette questioned. "The team that came out with us? What about that demon king something?!" Turning to where Hatsu had been fighting seconds before, to see all three members of the other team laid out on the ground moaning in pain. "What the? How did this happen? What of the martyr of the king's army? What happened to the martyr of the king's army?!

"They've deceased." Hatsu replied flatly.

"What!"

"Alright Hatsu, my baby!" Leesoo shouted with joy, wrapping Hatsu in a hug.

"But why is there only two?" Hatsu stated, looking around and trying to ignore the man in the purple jumpsuit. "Where is the last one?"

"Ah, the last one is sleeping over there."

"…sleeping?"

"Yup, sleeping."

"While his teammates are fighting with their lives on the line, he's sleeping?" Hatsu asked with disgust. "So even trash like him can be chosen." He threw a sword high into the air. "It seems the bottom floor's selector also makes mistakes. Sword that flies higher than any."

The sword flew through the air, sailing towards the sleeping man. "La…Laure!" the brunette cried out, trying to warn her teammate.

"I do not enjoy murder. But if it's trash, it's different." Hatsu said. "If you have no intention to fight, get up and leave, or you will be the first to die."

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**This is bad. **Red thought, watching the events unfold. He stood up, Pikachu jumping up to his shoulder. The trainer thought back to the events of the first area. **I need to stop this before it gets out of hand.** He moved towards the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" Androssi questioned.

"He wants to kill that man." Red muttered. "I'm going to stop him."

"Hold on for a second." The princess stated. "He's planning something, I can feel it."

Red stood tensely beside her, eyes locked onto the still sleeping figure. As the sword drifted closer, his instincts told him to run out, but he held steady. Fortunately, the sleeping man awoke and began to rise. With a sigh, Red settled down once again.

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"Heh, he opened his eyes, guess he doesn't want to die at least." Leesoo said, as he watched the sleeping man begin to rise. As he looked on, a blue glow began to emanate from the awakening man. "huh.." The man extended his palm outward, pointing towards the throne. "What is he doing…" A light began to build on the palm of his outstretched hand, burning brighter by the second.

"Anak! Dodge it!" Hatsu shouted back at his female teammate. "It's Shinsoo! He's going to shoot!" A bright white beam of light erupted from Laure's outstretched hand, racing towards the lounging lizard girl. She leapt up in the nick of time, avoiding the attack.

Attempting to take advantage of the surprise attack, the blonde and brunette charged the throne, only to be quickly repelled by Leesoo and Hatsu, respectively. "You bastards! Don't you dare touch our cutie!" Leesoo shouted, repelling the blonde man with a sharp right hook. With a flash, another beam of light erupted forth, this one a direct hit. "A..Anak!" There was no response. "Dammit Anak…Anak!"

"Hand over the crown, I can target anyone from anywhere." Laure said. He looked up at where Anak had been standing, but as the smoke cleared, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey, Anak!" Leesoo shouted in joy. "You're alive!"

"So, some freaks have taken the bait…" The lizard girl mumbled. "These shitheads should learn their place. The girl grit her teeth and lifted her weapon high. "Ignite!" The weapon stretched high into the air, multiplying several times over in size. "You're…all dead." She brought the weapon down with a thunderous boom, straight down on the man who had dared to fire at her. As it hit the ground, the floor shook with the impact and cracks opened up on the floor, pieces of the walls shook loose and fell.

"Laure, are you ok?" The brunette called out to her teammate.

Luckily, the man in the sleeping bag had the time to jump free of the massive weapon.

"Dammit, what the hell is with that weapon?"

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"Anak Zahard." Lero-ro muttered the name to himself high above the battle below. "To be honest, under expectations. I thought that this may have been a chance to relive the experience of Yuri entering the tower. Well, maybe I should call it lucky, since it's not exactly welcoming when a wild girl like her enters." He placed a hand on his chin and began to think. "But, that weapon might be a little dangerous."

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"Goddamit!" Red shouted. "They're going to kill each other!" Watching this past round had been playing hell with the trainer.

"Why does fighting bother you so much?" asked the princess.

"It doesn't." Red replied. "I've fought for most of my life, I've already told you that. It's the idea of killing each other that I hate."

"Sometimes it's necessary. When someone else stands before you and threatens your goals, sometimes it's the only option."

"It's never the only option." Red countered.

"Oh really?," The princess asked, a smirk creeping on her face. "In this world, everyone wants to climb to the top. Most of them don't care how they do it. You may not want to kill anybody, but you won't be given the same courtesy."

"You think I don't know that?" the trainer answered. "In Kanto, the path to becoming champion wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Every person I met on the road was a potential challenger, a threat to my becoming champion. The farther you got from the cities, the worse they were. Gangs, thugs, gamblers, thieves, everything you can imagine. I was just a kid at the time, but that didn't exempt me from them. Not to mention the wild Pokémon."

"Pokémon?" Androssi questioned. "Aside from that dragon of yours, they all seem docile enough."

Red shook his head. "Let me tell you something. I wasn't allowed to go more than ten feet away from my house until I was given a tamed Pokémon. Wondering in the fields or forests alone was suicidal. Every time I ran across one of them in the wild, they were trying to kill me, and in some cases, eat me." From the corner of his eye, he could see Rachel, her eyes wide with shock. "But I got through that, I gathered my team and fought my way to the top, and I didn't have to kill anyone along the way. Hell, I risked my own life to save people. If I can do that in Kanto, I can do it here."

Androssi stared at the man beside her, golden eyes locking with crimson. She could see it in those eyes, he was telling the truth. He had seen such things, anger simmered deep within those eyes as well. There was purpose there as well, something she had not seen earlier. "Maybe you could get away with that in Kanto, but the tower itself is a different entity." She said. "There are many more in here, willing to do whatever it takes to go just a little bit higher. There will be those who will try to stop you along the way."

A grin appeared on the trainers face. He reached up and began to stroke his Pikachu's fur. "Maybe, but I'll be ready when the time comes."

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_**AN: And that is part 1 of the crown game. Please feel free to drop any questions or comments in the reviews. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. When you really stop and think about it, the world of Pokémon is incredibly fucked up. I tried to paint a more realistic picture of what a trainer would have to face in such a place. Red's actual entrance into the game is maybe 2 chapters away. But there is good news, since its Summer now, I'll probably be able to get these out a whole lot faster than before. (Possibly another before the end of the week)**_


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